Hydrilla found along 50-mile stretches of lake

FORT GAINES - Patches of an aquatic weed native to South America and Asia has been found in 50-mile stretches along both sides of Lake Walter F. George on the Alabama-Georgia line. <br> <br> The plant, hydrilla, could become a threat to the lake if it is not checked, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers official said Thursday. <br> <br> ``You can&#39;t swim in it. You can&#39;t boat in it. You can&#39;t sail or run a boat through it. You can fish around the edge of it,&#39;&#39; said O.B. ``Buck&#39;&#39; Earnest Jr., operations manager for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River system. <br> <br> The weed grows very thick and sucks up nutrients that fish need to grow, develop properly and stay healthy, Earnest said. <br> <br> He said the hydrilla got into public waters as people dumped aquariums or flushed dead fish and hydrilla down toilets. It moved into Lake Seminole downstream in the 1960s. <br> <br> It was identified in Lake Walter F. George five or six years ago. This summer, patches the size of a desk to areas close to 15-20 acres have been found along stretches of the lake from Fort Gaines, Ga., to points near the Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge near Eufaula, Ala. <br> <br> ``You can find it in an area the size of a trash can, go 25 feet to another spot and 50 feet away find an area of a quarter-acre,&#39;&#39; he said. ``You can treat it chemically, but it takes years to kill.&#39;&#39;